424 Linnaan Society. 



November 15. — Thomas Bell, Esq., President, in the Chair. 



Read a Notice " On Hodgsonia, Hook. fil. et Thorns., a new and 

 remarkable genus of Cucurbitacece." By Dr. J. D. Hooker, F.R.S., 

 F.L.S. &c., and Dr. Thomas Thomson, F.L.S. &c. 



Hodgsonia. 



Chau. Gen. — Fl. Mas. Calycis tubus elongatus, post authesin de- 

 ciduus, .5-gonus, aiigulis dentibiisve incrassatis recuivis. Petala 5, 

 flavida, gamopetala, calycis limbo adnata, obovato-cuneata, patentia, 

 apice tnmcata, fimbriato-lobata ; lobis longissimis tortis, pendulis. 

 Stamina 6, triadelpha. AnthercE monadelphae, extrorsae ; loculis 

 linearibus contortis. 



Fl. F(em. Calyx basi ovario sphaerico adherens, superne longe tubulosus, 

 mari omnind similis, intus di?co spongioso. Corolla maris. Ovarium 

 1-loculare. Placeutte 'd, paiietales, basin versus utrinque 2-ovulat8e ; 

 ovulis ascendentibus, anatropis. Stylus elongatus, tubuni calycis jequaiis. 

 Stiyma 3-lobum, lobis superne emarginatis. Bacca depresso-globosa, 

 magna, obscure 5-sulcata, pulpa induratademum sicca repleta. Semina 

 per pnria in nuccs 6 arete accreta, altero iiiinore plerumque effceto. 

 Testa lignosa, basi fissa (rima elongata), profunde longitudinaliter re- 

 ticulatim sulcata ; epidermide vascular! in sulcos penetrante tecta. 

 -£fl<^oyj/e«r«»n crassissimun), suberosum. £w6ryo exalbuminosus; coty- 

 ledones magni, plani ; plumula lobata. 



Frutex alte scandens. Caulis rarnosus, sulcatus, succo aqueo copioso 

 scatens, vasts maynis a'ere repletis percursus. Folia altenia, semper- 

 virentia, coriacea, 3-5-palmatiloba. Flores mayni, extiis rufobrimnei 

 puheruU, i/ttus paU'ule slraminei vlllosi ; masculi spicati basi bracteali ; 

 foeniinei axillares solitarii (v. ex cl. Roxburgh) in racemmn brevem 

 dispositi. Petioli elongati, basi versus axillam gemmd ? corned conicd 

 stipuleeformi siiffulti. Civrhi later ales, 2-'S-Jidi. 



Hodgsonia heteroclita, Hook. fil. et Thoms. 



Trichosanthes beteroclita, Roxb. l<l. hid. iii. p. 705 ; Wall. Cat. no. (5684 ! 



T. grandiflora, Wall. Cat. no. 6f 85 ! non Blume. 



An 1'. hexasperma v. T. macrociirpa, Blume, Bijdr. p. 935 ? 



Hab. in sylvis densis montium inferiorum Sikkim Himalayee (ad 5500 ped. 



ascendcns) ; Assam ; Mont. Khasia, Siibet, C])ittagong, Penang, Java? 



— V. V. n. 



A very remarkable plant, one of the handsomest and most curious 

 of the whole natural family, with the inflorescence and flower of 

 Trichosanthes, but in fruit widely different from any of the extensive 

 Natural Order to which it belongs. It has been extremely well 

 described b)' Roxburgh as a species of Trichosanthes, and was 

 cultivated many years ago in the Calcutta Botanic Garden, where it 

 is now lost. A figure of the female flower is also in the Museum of 

 the India House. i2o&i branching. Stem climbing for 80 to 100 feet, 

 festooning lofty trees. Wood of very remarkable structure. The al- 

 most axillary conical bodies, referred to buds, but generally described 

 as stipules, are most remarkable and deserve careful study. Flowers, 

 very handsome, appear in May, and the fruit ripens in autumn and 

 winter ; female flowers are rare, and from being solitary, are less 

 conspicuous than the males. Ovarium covered with small warts 

 that project through the dense, almost velvety, rusty pubescence, 

 1 -celled with three >arietal placentae, that project into the axis, and 



